Congratulations to these two graduating seniors for their accomplishment!

It was amazing to meet two superstar students from McBride High School. As talented, smart, and driven as these individuals are, it’s even more impressive how humble and gracious they are in the face of their recognition and high achievement. These two students have big things in store for them.

Nicole Pavlovich

Q: Congrats! How do you feel about being Valedictorian?

A: It’s been a lot of hard work, but there are a lot more people that also deserve to be recognized. AP Seminar and AP Physics took out a lot of the other candidates, but they are all deserving and hardworking.

Q: What was your favorite extracurricular activity during high school?

A: I’m in the engineering pathway here at McBride. It’s allowed me to explore other things that I normally wouldn’t have explored. The annual solar boat competition has definitely been my favorite. It’s a competition sponsored by the water district, and we build solar-powered boats and race them at one of the reservoirs near Temecula. It’s a year-long project every year and there are about 40 other schools that participate. This year, we have three from the Long Beach Unified School District. Last year, McBride placed 4th, and this year, I’m the captain of the team.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: I plan to study computer science in college.

Noah Sonnenberg

Q: What have been some of your favorite memories here at McBride?

A: Taking pre-calculus as a sophomore and conquering the class. Then, as a junior, taking calculus with a class full of seniors. I’m currently taking multivariable calculus at Long Beach City College.

Q: Reflecting on the journey so far, you’ve already accomplished so much. What are your plans for the future?

A: I plan to attend UCLA and major in mathematics. I hope to enter the field of math research or become an actuary [who calculates insurance rates]. I wrote a letter to myself in seventh grade as an assignment from my health teacher at Stanford Middle School. It was delivered to me just a few weeks ago. It was supposed to arrive my junior year of high school, but it came a year late. It was so fun to read it because back then, I wanted to be an anthropologist. I was fascinated by history and the study of bones. It was so funny to see the hopes and dreams I had for myself back then, and to look at my dreams now — they’re just so different. Now, I have found a passion for math. The way it works, math is used to describe everything else, so I’ve found a passion for understanding it and using it to better comprehend the universe. In that letter, I wrote out 50 goals that I set for myself in seventh grade — it made me nostalgic to see how much I’ve changed and how much I haven’t — my handwriting hasn’t gotten much better!